Curb inlet casting



June 14, 1949. DE WITT s. CROCVZKER CURB INLET CAST ING Filed June @gl/[ENTOR ATTO R N EY Patented June 14, 1949 STATES PATENT OFFICE De Witt Saxton Cracker, New York, N. Y.

AipplicationJune 14, 1945; Serial No. 59954153 4 Claims. 1.

This invention relatessto. curb inlets for, catch basins for road drainage...

Such inlets. are provided. by. incorporating into the curb which separates; the. elevatedsidewalk from the. road, a casting which opens theroad gutter to a catch or drainage concrete lined basin which underlies-thesidewalh, The casting is held in positionbybeing; bonded, to the immediately adjacent portions-of suchconstructiom Experience has proven that this-bond is an elementof weakness in thatitabreaks readily and permits the castingto moveaway; from the sections to which it has been bonded. It is not an unusual occurrence for the casting to project outwardly beyond the curb as-much as 4 to present a hazardous obstruction to traflic. I attribute this weaknessto thepeculiarity that the concrete sections to which the-castingisbonded. do not contract as fully asltheyexpand. This explains the gradual decrease in therwidth of the separating spaces generally provided-1between-sections of. a

roadbed for expansion, until the space closesand any further expansion of the roadbed sections will cause the road to breakup. This is a major determining factor in the life of theroadbed.

It is this peculiarityin the contraction and expansion of the' sections, coupled with the factthat the. curb inlet casting'tends notto follow the contraction and expansion of the sections to which it is bonded or-secured,: which in, my opinion destroys thisbond sop-that thecurb requires frequent rebuilding and the casting resetting during the life of the'road, with theconsequent inconvenience and increase in road maintenance cost.

The general objectof my invention is a novel provision for preventing theseparation of the curb inlet' casting. from the catch basin wall structure.

Another object of. my invention is a novel provision for so securing the curb inlet casting to the catch baslnwallstructure-that the inlet casting will move therewith as the wall structure expands and contracts with temperature changes and will remain fixedly bonded. thereto and inseparable therefromas-long as the wall structure maintains its integrity.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects aswill be hereinafter pointed out, I have illustrated. embodiments ofv my invention in thedrawingswherein:

Fig. 1 is a cross-section through a catch basin, the sidewalk which it underlies, and the adjacent gutter slab;

Fig. 2 is asection taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, on an enlargedscale;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of-the curb inlet casting of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective, on an enlarged scale, of the one end-ofthecu-rb casting inlet of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 shows amodification.

Upon reference to Fig. 1, it will be observed that I here show a. transverse. cross-section through the gutterslab 20.and the adjacent sidewalk H which overlies the catch or drainage basin l2 whose front andback and side walls are numbered [3, I 4, l5, and 16, respectively, and whose bottom is numbered. l8. Access to basin [2 may be had through a sidewalk, opening closed by manhole cover I9. The inner portionof the gutter slab 20 taperstoprovide a gutter 22 into which the water drains fromthe roadway and along which it flows to. the curb inlet and from there into the basin l2.v

The curb inlet'casting is shown as comprising a front wall 30' and a bottom. 3|. The front wall 30 is provided with relatively, large openings 32 across its length, separatedby relatively narrow partitions 33'to providemaximum drainage clearance therethrough. The partitions are extended rearwardly to .form end walls 35 and 36 and the triangular fins 3'l'iwhich define a plurality of passageways whose efiect is. to distribute the road water across the width of the basin [2. The fins 31 and the end walls 35 and '36 are shown for illustrative purposes, as'all of the same dimensions and contours and as integral with the bottom 31 for its full' depth. The front wall extends below the bottom 3| to provide the ledge 34. A conventional casting is approximately 16 to 17 inches high, and the. rearmost' api'ces 39 of the fins and side walls 35, Stand 31 'i'sv approximately midway of the height of the casting and. 8" to the rear of the front face.

I provide the end walls 35 and 36 of the casting of Fig. 3 withthe outwardlyextending and vertically elongated flanges 40; approximately 6 long and positioned centrally of the height and also of the depth of these Walls:

I will now briefly set'forth the functioning of my device by reference to a road buildin procedure. After sub-grading the dirt surface for the full width of the road including the sidewalk areas, and-excavating for the catch or-drainage basins l2,'the inlet castingof Fig. 3 is suspended across the frontoi an excavation, from the'subgrade to the sides thereof, with the bottom of the casting held approximately on the level with the sub-grade. Concrete is then poured to line the basin with concrete walls and bottom [3, l4, l5, l6 and I8 as shown in Fig. 1. The front wall is poured to the level of the bottom of the casting, i. e. the sub-grade level, whereas the other three walls are poured approximately to the level of the finished road surface which is 6" above the subgrade and also the bottom of the casting. As a result the front wall l3 will engage and bond to the bottom of the casting and the side walls l and it will engage the side walls and 38 thereof approximately to the horizontal level of the apices 39 of these side walls and will embrace the lower half of the flanges 40.

Concrete or similar material is then poured for the sidewalk H which engages and overlies the tops of the three side walls 14, i5 and I6, and with the curb casting to close the basin except for the aforementioned front openings 32. It has already been pointed out that the side walls l5 and i6 were poured to a horizontal level of approximately the apices 39 of the triangularly formed rearwardly extending partitions. It therefore follows that the concrete or similar material which is poured to form the sidewalk I i will engage the outer side faces of the end walls 35 and 36 of the castin and also the rear and side faces of the portion 30' of the front wall 39 which is above its openings 32. In this operation the upper half of the outwardly extending lugs or flanges 49 will be imbedded into and thus bonded to the sidewalk slab.

As a result of this arrangement, the casting is so bonded to the side walls l5 and it and the sidewalk I l by the flanges 48 that any movement of that end of these walls or the sidewalk in contracting or expanding will carry the casting with it. The casting is thus retained against separation therefrom notwithstanding the aforementioned peculiarity in the expansion and contraction of these sections. The life of the bond between the curb inlet casting and the adjacent wall sections is thus increased probably to a longevity equal to that of the road itself and the aforementioned inconveniences and increased cost of road maintenance eliminated.

The above procedure presupposes that the walls l3, I4, 15 and It are poured so that the bonding is effected as the concrete sets. It is, however, an occasional practice to build some of these sections of preformed blocks, in which event I prefer to use the alternative arrangement shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, wherein a looped or hooked member 60 projects rearwardly from the rear surface of portion 36' of the front wall 30. When the sidewalk is poured, one of the reinforcing rods 6| which are generally embedded therein is bent through the hook or loop 60 as shown in this figure so that the casting is thus bonded to the sidewalk section.

It will be understood that I may employ both the lugs 40 which project outwardly and oppositely from the side walls 35 and 36 and also the loop 60 where the walls are all poured, in which event the bond between the curb inlet casting and the adjacent walls will be strengthened to that extent.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An inlet casting comprising, a base, end walls extending upwardly from the ends and transversely of the length of the base to form the end walls of the casting, the outer faces of said end walls forming the end faces of the casting, spaced apart partition walls extending upwardly from the base transversely of its length to define a plurality of passageways intermediate the end walls to drain water from the road gutter into a basin beneath the sidewalk, a flange extending upwardly from and connecting the upper ends of said partition walls and end walls, the height of the flange being substantially greater than the thickness of the base, the front faces of the partition and end walls and the base being in a common plane and defining the front face of the casting, vertical lugs extending laterally outwardly from the end faces of the casting, the lugs being located to the rear of and below said flange and above the base whereby the concrete can be poured for the basin and the sidewalk by first pouring the basin to a level which is intermediate the top and bottom of the lugs and thereafter pouring the sidewalk slabs to that level.

2. A casting as set forth in claim 1 wherein the partition and end walls are extended rearwardly beyond the rear end of said base, said wall extensions being of a length no greater than the distance between the top of the base and the bottom of the flange, and being located therebetween and said lugs extending laterally outwardly from said extension of said end walls.

3. A casting as set forth in claim 2 wherein the thickness of the flange is substantially less than both its height and the depth of the base, whereby the flange becomes the front facing for the sidewalk slab.

4. The combination of a gutter drain basin, :1 side walk slab and an inlet casting, said inlet casting comprising a base, end Walls extending upwardly from the ends of and transversely of the length of the base to form the end walls of the casting, the outer faces of said end walls forming the end faces of the casting, spaced apart partition walls extending upwardly from the bases transversely of its length to define a plurality of passageways intermediate the end walls to drain water from the road gutter into the basin beneath the sidewalk, a flange extending upwardly from and connectin said partition and end walls, the height of the flange being substantially greater than the thickness of the base, the front faces of the partition and end walls and the base being in a common plane and defining the front face of the casting, vertical lugs extending laterally outwardly from the end faces of the casting, the lugs being located to the rear of and below said flange and above the base, and a gutter drain basin below the casting and having its top at a level intermediate the top and bottom of the lugs and the sidewalk slabs poured thereabove to the level of the top of the gutter drain basin.

DE WITT SAXTON CROCKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following refcren'ces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 459,259 Shunk Sept. 8, 1891 634,011 Mahony Oct. 3, 1899 1,654,246 Egan Dec. 27, 1927 2,242,192 Gordon May 13, 1941 

